 The VCD program is designed to equip students with the practical tools needed for analysis. We study trends and estimates, asking how do we know what's going on in context of violence, what data is available, what does the data capture and how reliable is it. We look at levels of violence, war violence, non-war violence, structural violence, gendered violence and psychological violence. We ask about the violence of individuals on the one hand compared to social and political violence. Violence and conflict are not extraneous to processes of development, but really significant in terms of moving things around, making change and distributing political and economic resources. If we look at the violent conflicts that are taking place, for example in Syria, in Congo, in South Sudan, we can see they're having a massive influence on the development of those countries in terms of who gains economically, who holds power and is able to impose an agenda. The lens of violence and conflict is helpful to us in analysing how power relations are challenged or reinforced. Racism of course arises largely from direct forms of violence and history such as colonialism and slavery. These processes sometimes now find more symbolic expression, but it still affects people's identity, support networks and relationships with the state. If we bring together these issues of forced migration and racism, we see a third form of violence which is manifesting itself in the crisis of democracy that populations are facing around the world with the rise of the populist right wing. The violence shapes development through the tightening of political space, attacks on journalism, journalists or activists and also through destitution when people are unable to dislodge politicians that keep the country in a state of generalised emergency and poverty. The students who take the VCD programme are passionate about how power relations work, including how they operate through violence and conflict. These students come from all walks of life and have a whole range of career destinations. Pulling apart how violence works, when it starts, how it escalates, who benefits, who loses, opens up a lot of opportunities for managing conflict and reducing violence. Understanding what led to or sustained violence can be really useful in avoiding reconstructing the same forms of violence in the future. If you have any questions about the course, there's a lot of information on entry requirements, structure and scholarships online. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me, Dr Zoe Marridge, on ZM2.asoas.ac.uk.